Very high DPC latency from ndis.sys when streaming video - causes audio pops and crackles P2410-G2-M

Hi,

I have an Acer Travelmate P2410-G2-M and my WLAN adapter is Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265. After upgrading to a Quad HD PC monitor, I noticed audio pops and clicks when streaming 1440p video. After downloading and running LatencyMon, it turns out a driver called ndis.sys appears to be the problem. It has routine execution times of up to 6.64 ms - far higher than any other drivers or processes. I presume there has always been an issue with this, but it's only with the additional stress of 1440p that it has actually caused issues with audio playback.

I've searched far and wide to solve this problem. I have updated to the latest version of Windows 10 Pro (21H1) build 19043.985. I have updated all my drivers and they are up to date according to both the Intel and Acer automatic checkers. I've changed what (very little) power management options the network driver has to prioritise performance. I've ensured my Windows power management options are set for high performance.

I have attached the report from LatencyMon after running for a few minutes during which I tried to view a 1440p video on youtube.

Oh and in case it matters, I have a very good WiFi download speed of around 250 mbps, and am using a Google Nest wifi router. But the problem does seem to be with that one routine (ndis.sys) taking a weirdly long time to complete.

Does anyone have any ideas as to how to solve this? It's a right pain and I would be extremely grateful for any help.

Thanks!

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billsey

Well, ndis.sys is definitely involved with networking, in fact it's what provides the standard networking interface to applications and drivers (Network Driver Interface Specification). Since you are able to get 250Mbps with your wireless it's pretty much got to be running on 5GHz 802.11ac. The WiFi/Bluetooth card on your P2410-G2-M is on an M.2 interface, so it's PCIe, likely x1 though it could be x2, definitely not x4 or else they'd also have x4 for the SSD interface, and yours is SATA 3.0. Data transfer into and out of the M.2/PCIe buss is handled by DMA reads and writes so the only time the processor gets in the way is to parse the data in the packets, and that's the part ndis.sys plays. Are you running with the stock 4GB of memory? What percentage is in use when you are seeing the latency? Which version of the Intel HD Graphics 620 drivers are you running?

Ben4658

Hi billsey, thanks for your reply.

I have 8GB of RAM installed. With my laptop idle (but Firefox and Thunderbird open) the RAM usage is 70%. Upon streaming a video, hearing pops, and ndis.sys going crazy, it only jumped to 77% RAM usage. The CPU did spike a few times, but mainly as I loaded up and started the video, and not coinciding with every pop or click. The one thing that consistently coincides with that is the ndis.sys routine execution time jumping very high.

My Intel(R) UHD Graphics 620 driver is version 23.20.16.5038

billsey

It looks like Intel's latest driver is 27.20.100.9466. Try upgrading to that and see whether it helps.

Ben4658

Hi Billsey,

Tried downloading and running the .exe for that version but it said it's "not validated for your computer" and automatically quit the installation. I think the version I have is the most recent version that is suitable for my laptop.

I've tried connecting via an ethernet cable tonight, and I turned off WiFi completely. Interestingly, ndis.sys is still running with far too high a latency. However, at least when running firefox, I no longer seem to have any problems (when on ethernet, which is a bit of a pain). Weirdly the one thing that still causes pops and crackles is running ookla speedtest on Chrome.

I'm going to try a complete removal of all wireless drivers and earlier versions etc, and a fresh install. Will post here afterwards.

Thanks!

Ben4658

Well, I uninstalled every version of the Intel Dual Band wireless-ac 7265 driver that my OS would let me - I could go back about 5 versions. I then installed the newest driver that is suitable for my laptop (19.51.35.2).

It's no better, and is possibly a little bit worse.

I love computers!

billsey

Try the procedure Intel describes for upgrading from a manufacturer's tweaked driver to the generic version. It's actually pretty safe, but you can always reverse the process to get Acer's version back if needed.

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